1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a battery holding structure for holding a battery on a vehicle and, more particularly, to a battery holding structure suitable for holding a battery on a utility vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Utility vehicles are those suitable for various kinds of work including carrying goods on rough roads. Generally, a utility vehicle 21 as shown in FIG. 1 has a body frame 26 formed by assembling metal parts, four wheels, namely, two front wheels 22 and two rear wheels 23, a power unit, not shown, such as an engine, a driver's seat 24, and a load carrying platform 25 disposed behind the driver's seat 24. In most cases, the wheels 22 and 23 are provided with wide tires suitable for running on rough roads.
In most cases, a battery mounted on the utility vehicle 21 is used not only as a power source for starting, ignition and control of the engine, illumination and lighting marker lamps of the vehicle, but also as a power source for driving drive motors for driving working equipment. Therefore, a plurality of fully charged batteries are stored and the battery on the working vehicle 21 is replaced frequently with a fully charged one. Therefore the battery is held in a place that facilitates changing the battery, such as on a floor panel under or near the driver's seat 24.
A conventional battery holding structure for holding a battery on a vehicle body will be described by way of example with reference to FIG. 5. A battery tray 50 is placed on a floor panel 30 of the body of a working vehicle, not shown. The battery tray 50 has a bottom wall 50a, and low side walls 50b and 50c standing from the bottom wall 50a. A battery B is mounted on the battery tray 50. Positioning lugs 52 provided with holes 52 project outward from substantially middle parts of the upper edges of the front and the rear sidewall 50c, respectively. Mounting holes 31 are formed in the floor panel 30 at positions respectively corresponding to the holes 52a of the positioning lugs 52.
A clamping plate 7 is placed longitudinally across a middle part of the upper surface of the battery B. Holes 7b are formed in opposite end parts of the clamping plate 7 so as to correspond to the holes 52a of the lugs 52, respectively. Hook rods 1 having threaded upper parts 1a are passed upward from below the floor panel 30 through the two mounting holes 31, the two holes 52a and the two holes 7b of the clamping plate 7 so that the threaded upper parts 1a project upward from the clamping plate 7. Nuts 2 are screwed on the threaded upper parts 1a to hold the battery B on the floor panel 30. Each of the hook rods 1 has an L-shaped lower part 1b. The L-shaped lower parts 1b engages with the edges of the mounting holes 31 of the floor panel 30 to hold the hook rods 1 in engagement with the floor panel 30.
In a battery holding structure proposed in JP11-342809A (Paragraph No. 0020, FIGS. 2 and 5) a cover plate of a hanger is placed on the upper front edge of a battery, a bent part of a round rod welded to the cover plate is engaged in a hole formed in an upper connecting plate, bent parts of hanger bolts (hook rods) are engaged in holes formed in a lower connecting plate, and nuts are screwed on threaded parts of the hanger bolts projecting from a bolt hole to hold the battery.
In a battery holding structure proposed in JP63-47191U (Middle part of the right column in p. 2, FIG. 5), a pair of swing arms supported for turning in vertical planes in a rear part of a vehicle body are connected by a connecting plate, a battery is mounted on a tray supported on the connecting plate, and a holder is placed on a rubber pad placed on the battery, and the holder is fastened with nuts to stays (hook rods) connected by brackets to the connecting plate.
Each of the foregoing conventional battery holding structure and the prior art battery holding structures holds the battery by connecting the clamping member (clamping plate or the like) placed on the upper surface of the battery, and the battery support part (floor of the vehicle or the like) with the hook rods having the L-shaped lower parts and the threaded upper parts.
The battery of the utility vehicle in FIG. 5 is held on the floor panel under the driver's seat by such a battery holding structure. The battery holding structure needs at least the two hook rods, the two hook rods need to be passed upward from below the floor panel through the holes formed in the floor panel, and the nuts are screwed on the threaded upper parts of the hook rods passed through the holes of the clamping plate disposed on the upper surface of the battery and projecting upward from the holes of the clamping plate to hold the battery firmly on the floor panel. The hook rod passed upward through the hole of the floor panel must be supported by hand until the nut is screwed on the threaded upper part so that the hook rod may not drop. Therefore, the mechanic needs to perform a troublesome work for supporting the hook rod by one of the hands and placing the clamping plate on the battery by the other hand. The floor panel of the working vehicle, in particular, is at a low height from the ground and hence the mechanic unavoidably needs to stoop during most part of the troublesome work, which puts a considerable workload on the mechanic.
The battery may be damaged if the nuts are tightened excessively and the battery may unstably held and rattle if the nuts are tightened insufficiently. Therefore, the nuts must be tightened properly.